


because wherever we are in this great big world, we'll never be more than a few hours from home

by stefonzolesky



Series: my rollercoaster [2]
Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Gen, lotsa love for tracey, trans gob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 00:25:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12947316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stefonzolesky/pseuds/stefonzolesky
Summary: Gob likes to blame the entire ordeal on himself. None of this would have happened had he just kept his fucking mouth shut. His parents would still care about him, Michael wouldn’t avoid him like the plague. It would be fine.





	because wherever we are in this great big world, we'll never be more than a few hours from home

When things start to go from bad to worse at home, Gob starts spending more time at Michael’s house, offering to watch George Michael. Tracey… politely declines his help, and she says as nicely as she can that Gob doesn’t know the first thing about kids. Gob huffs and tells her that he’s staying put anyways.

“You’ve been staying with your parents, haven’t you?” Tracey asks, her voice soft because George Michael is sleeping. “What went wrong?”

Gob shrugs. “Yeah, I’ve been staying with them since that… that girl I was staying with kicked me out. And Dad keeps getting pissed at me.” He thinks that it’s pathetic of him to still be staying with his parents at twenty-five, but he doesn’t have a full-time job or much of a choice in the matter.

“For what? It’s not like he has a reason to be mad at you, right?” Tracey’s attention is split between Gob and the kid slowly waking up on her lap. “Michael’s gonna be home soon, by the way. In case you wanted to talk to him. Or not talk to him. I know he’s weird.”

“Yeah.” Gob chews on his lip. “Dad’s upset ‘cause he says that all this change is too much too fast. And I think Michael has been avoiding me, even though I’ve been over here so much. I don’t get it.”

“It  _ is _ a lot,” Tracey reasons, and it shows in her face that she’s desperately hoping George Michael will fall back asleep. “It’s a big change, for you  _ and _ for them, but that doesn’t mean they’re right. I’m sure they’ll come around eventually. In the meantime, maybe you can get your own place?”

“It’ll be a while before I can afford that,” Gob mutters. “I don’t exactly have a steady income. I  _ could _ always take from the company, but Michael would never go for that. Always responsible.”

Tracey hesitates. “Between you and me,” She says. “And as much as I love my husband, and as much as I respect his opinion… I think you should go for it. Just enough to get your own place. You deserve that, at the very least. At least from what I’ve seen. After all the shit this family has put you through over the last twenty-five years.”

“You know what, Tracey?” Gob sits up a little straighter, a smile finally tugging on his lips. “You’re a lot better than everyone gives you credit for.”

Tracey shrugs and opens her mouth to say something, but George Michael starts crying so she rushes to shush him and get him something to eat.

Michael gets home shortly after that, and for some reason he’s surprised to see Gob sitting sprawled across the couch. He puts down his stuff and turns on his heel like he always does when Gob is over, but he hesitates before he heads to his room to bury himself in work. Gob smiles sadly, because he knows that Michael doesn’t want to talk to him.

That’s why it catches him off guard when Michael turns back around and sits next to him.

“What do you want?” Gob forces himself to sit up.

Michael sighs. “Well, hey to you too… Gob.” The way he says it is reserved and hesitant, but Gob appreciates it nonetheless. “I just… I wanted to apologize. I’ve been kind of an asshole to you--”

“No shit,” Gob interrupts, slowly leaning back like he wants the chair to swallow him alive. Michael rolls his eyes.

“I know, alright? So I’m sorry…” He hesitates. “You… You’re my older brother. I shouldn’t be a dick to you. We’re brothers.”

Gob wants to melt away so he doesn’t have to deal with any of his problems. “You’re right,” is all he can say. “We are.”

“Yeah,” Michael agrees. “Yeah, we are. And I-- Neither of us can keep avoiding our problems, alright?”

He looks like he wants to say something else, but George Michael is crying in the other room and it’s really fucking loud ‘cause the kid is four years old by now, so he just sighs and claps Gob on the shoulder before he leaves.

Gob likes to blame the entire ordeal on himself. None of this would have happened had he just kept his  _ fucking _ mouth shut. His parents would still care about him, Michael wouldn’t avoid him like the plague. It would be fine.

He tells Tracey that, and she scoffs with a roll of her eyes.

“No offense,” She says. “But that’s complete bullshit. And Michael…” She sighs, shrugging. “He cares about you. Really. He just doesn’t know what to do. He needs time.”

“It’s been a month, Tracey. He’s had time,” Gob points out.

Tracey shakes her head. “You know your brother, right? He needs time. He doesn’t like to deal with change.” She lowers her voice. “Between you and me, I think that’s why your dad hasn’t promoted him yet. He doesn’t think Mike could handle the change.”

Gob sighs and leans back in his chair. “Y’know, I really hate that you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Tracey tells him. “Remember that. Everyone knows it, anyway. I’ve never been wrong in my life.”

Gob just smiles, because he knows that she’s right.

Michael comes to him one day, his hands behind his back. He hardly ever bears good news, Gob has learned that well enough by now.

This time, maybe, because he looks nervous, but Gob has also learned to never get his hopes up.

“I…” Michael starts, speaking hesitantly. “I spent some company money. I didn’t tell dad, ‘cause he’d be pissed at me, but I got you a binder.” He passes over the garment, his cheeks red. “I didn’t know what size you were, but Tracey helped me make an… estimated guess. I don’t know, I--” He cuts himself off. “Yeah. You mentioned that dad wouldn’t lend you the money to buy one, and I know that you’re having money troubles--”

“I always am,” Gob interrupts, a smile pulling on his face. He tries not to cry, because he’s a  _ man, _ for fuck’s sake, he  _ doesn’t cry. _

But he _ does _ cry and he hugs his brother tighter than he ever has before, at the same time reminding himself to thank Tracey for bringing Michael around like this. His parents may or may not give a fuck about his happiness or his health or anything, but his brother and sister-in-law do, so fuck what they think, right?

Things are finally looking up for Gob Bluth.

 


End file.
